Today, the Canadian public education movement known as Campaign 2000 met with the national caucuses of all parties in this House, in order to raise awareness of the alarming rise in child poverty in Canada.

What measures does the minister plan to take in order to reverse this extremely alarming trend with its disastrous effects on the most vulnerable members of our society?

Mr. Speaker, our government is well aware of the problem of poverty in Canada.

Later this afternoon, I myself will be meeting with the Campaign 2000 representatives, who are doing an excellent job of raising Canadian awareness of the importance of poverty, child poverty in particular, which is a priority for our government.

This is why we, in conjunction with the Minister of Finance, have designed a new national child benefit which will, over the next two years, mean an additional $1.7 billion investment in the battle against child poverty.

Ralph GoodaleLiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Speaker, it was a very positive, cordial and productive meeting.

Ministers reviewed the progress being made by 15 analytical groups that involve 450 Canadian experts representing every province and every sector of the Canadian economy. They are all working on every aspect of the climate change challenge.

We also worked on credits for early action, on international negotiations and on public outreach and engagement. We also announced the details of Canada's climate change action fund. That fund brings our federal investment toward climate change solutions to more than $200 million annually.

Mr. Speaker, Greenpeace activists boarded a freighter in California carrying newsprint from British Columbia, chained themselves to the cranes and prevented the freighter from docking and unloading.

Last week we had a very similar incident in Connecticut. It was handled with dispatch by U.S. authorities without much fanfare. But this is all part of the Greenpeace $1 million boycott campaign aimed at British Columbia forest products.

How is the government going to ensure that Canadian ships have continued access to U.S. ports with these activities going on?

Ralph GoodaleLiberalMinister of Natural Resources and Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board

Mr. Speaker, this is an issue that involves a number of departments and agencies within the Government of Canada and obviously within the U.S. government.

Our thrust will be twofold: first of all to ensure that buyers around the world understand the true story about Canadian forestry practices so that they can understand that forestry in Canada is conducted in a sustainable manner; and second, we will insist that our trading partners, like the United States, live up to their obligations and allow Canadian ships to land when they are supposed to.

Mr. Speaker, in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 109, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the government's response to the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Transport entitled “The Renaissance of Passenger Rail in Canada”.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the delegation of the Canadian interparliamentary union group which participated at the 19th working committee and general assembly of the ASEAN Interparliamentary Organization which was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from August 24 to August 28, 1998.

I have the distinct privilege to present, in both official languages, the report of the delegation of the Canadian interparliamentary union group which travelled to Bangkok, Vientiane, Laos and Cambodia from August 28 to September 3 in support of Canadian action on anti-personnel land mines.

I take this opportunity on behalf of all parliamentarians to congratulate the Minister of Foreign Affairs who will receive later this week in Lisbon the north-south prize of the Council of Europe in recognition of his strong commitment to this struggle for democracy, global interdependence, solidarity and human rights. It is a well-deserved award. I recommend this report for reading to all members.

Pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, the report of the 100th interparliamentary conference which was held in Moscow, Russia from September 7 to September 13. I commend all delegates who worked so hard to move on international issues which are so important to all of us.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House of Commons, in both official languages, the report of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association to the seventh annual meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe, held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from July 7 to 10, 1998.

This report contains resolutions concerning Kosovo, the economic charter of the OSCE and the support of OSCE missions in various unstable or emerging democracies. After active debate and the participation of many members of our delegation, many of whom are in the House today, we can say that this meeting provided an opportunity for Canadian parliamentarians to meet representatives from European and Eastern European countries, to make important contacts and exchange views that will be of value to all Canadians, and to contribute to the development of human rights in an important part of the world.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 12th report of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Pursuant to the order of reference of Tuesday, April 21, 1998, your committee has considered private member's Bill C-208, an act to amend the Access to Information Act. Your committee has agreed to report that bill with an amendment.

The committee greatly appreciates the very hard work and professionalism of the member who presented the bill, the hon. member for Brampton West—Mississauga. The committee also greatly appreciates the work of the parliamentary secretary and the justice department, which bent over backwards to accommodate the wishes of parliament and the work of this private member.

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present the 17th and 18th reports of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts respecting chapters 3, 4 and 7 of the April 1998 report of the Auditor General.

I might say that any constituents who are interested in the armed forces should read chapters 3 and 4 which are involved with equipping and modernizing the Canadian forces and buying major capital equipment. I would invite them to call either my office or the office of their member of parliament.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109 of the House of Commons, the committee requests the government to table comprehensive responses to these reports.

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-445, an act to change the name of the electoral district of Stormont—Dundas.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this bill which is an act to change the name of my electoral district of Stormont—Dundas.

Under redistribution, an area formerly known as Charlottenburg township was added to my riding. With the support of my constituents, I would like the riding to be renamed to Stormont—Dundas—Charlottenburg.

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-446, an act to amend the Income Tax Act (removal of foreign investment limit for registered retirement savings plans and registered retirement income funds).

Mr. Speaker, I think this is an important private member's bill that I am putting forward. The intent of it is, first of all, to protect, preserve and enhance the ability of Canadians to save for their retirement.

If we believe that truly is the purpose of the registered retirement savings plan and the RRIF, then I think we should support this bill. It would give Canadians who have access to about 2% of capital markets in their own country a chance to spread their investment portfolios around.

Second, I point to a Conference Board of Canada study which says that Canadians would be far richer in their retirement savings if they had access to other markets around the world.

Finally, I simply want to say that ultimately all of this money would come back into Canada when people dispose of their RRSPs. It would leave the Canadian treasury and Canadians, in general, better off. Therefore, I seek the support of my colleagues in putting this forward.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36 I am honoured to present a petition organized by Norm Tufts and signed by residents of Grand Band, Parkhill, Thedford and London.

The petitioners note that the use of MMT in gasoline has been proven to foul within emission control devices and adversely affects engines performance resulting in higher smog levels. The petitioners call on parliament to set new national clean fuel standards for gasoline with zero MMT and lower sulphur content.